What are your daily drivers?

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Jmadams13

Jmadams13

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Monday nights is knife sharpen and cleanup of my daily drivers, and while doing so, got me thinking, as most of us have larger collections, there must be a few goto's that get used almost daily, if not. So here are the ones I always take to work, and use daily. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic.

OHHhK.jpg


Top to bottom:

Tojiro 210mm shirogami IDK gyuto with the K-U finish removed. Crappy handle, but love the steel on her. Takes a great edge and holds it. Used as a petty.

My trusty 1303 CCK. No need to elaborate, always with me, used for everything, favorite knife I own. Great line knife.

Paraplui A Le'Epreuve parer. Great and thin, nice geo, takes a scary sharp edge, just all around good parer to me. I know some don't like the ultra narrow profile, but it grew on me and was one of the best 20$ I've spent on a knife.

My still to be identified cleaver restoration. Shorter and narrower than my CCK, but a good one nonetheless. Took some cleaning and a lot of edge reworking to get it this far, and still not done, but holds and edge well, and takes a beating. Used more as a very tall nakari than anything else.

My vintage K-Sab restored and converted to slicer. 12" of slicing heaven, that's about all. Gets sharp, stays sharp, cuts like a big ass slicer should.

And my workhorse of the bunch, 12" American Grinding chefs I got from Lefty. Since the day it came, I have used it literally every day, at home and the bistro. Gets sharp as a mofo, and stays that way about all week. I really don't start noticing a difference till Friday dinner rush, but nothing a quick strop doesnt fix. Oh, BTW Tom, I got 99% of the bend out, and love it even more. May do a rehandle tho, but in a very vintage style.

What's not shown is my 1960something 10" dexter bread knife. Every good baker needs a good bread knife, and I have about 15, lol. But this dexter is my favorite at the moment, after a good touch up.


So....what do you all use on a daily basis?
 
Nice. I love your style!!!

I'm glad the American Grinding Chef is working out so great. A lot of people passed up a beautiful knife (even before the bend was discovered). Keep in mind, if you rehandle it, you'll lose the maker's mark...

I'll take a phone pic of my go-to's and post them soon.

Great thread!
 
I thought about that too Tom, over and over again, partly why I have not done it yet. It's just a little thick for my hands and style of use. And it's pretty rough. I also see some rust starting in one of the "gaps" under the scale. Still not 100% positive I'm gonna do it, just an idea. I will for certain try to remove them intact for history's sake.

Now that I think about it, I'm gonna leave it. You don't see many of these old guys
 
These are the ones I seem to reach for, with the Marr petty being my travel/work knife, the Snyder gyuto being one I'm trying out (and really enjoying), and the parer on the bottom being my wife's go-to (can you tell?).

9F16D606-6C8B-4436-B444-4ED3DC544699-1644-0000013A2889B285.jpg
 
I really like how the geo looks on the marr. The handle looks a bit thick though. How does it feel in the hand
 
The shadow throws it off a bit. We've had cloudy weather for what seems like forever, and my pictures show it! As fr the handle size and feel, it might be a tad thick, but I like how it feels a lot. I've been told I like big handles and Adam is known for making "fatties". I wouldn't say it's a fatty, but it's not thin either. I checked the balance point and it is handle heavy, but with a petty, I really don't notice it.
 
I've had approximately 50 to 60 knives over the last several years, but I keep returning to my Kono HD's....
 
Right now my daily drivers include Vintage K-Sab canadian utility and chefs, vintage 12 in. german scimitar, 210mm tkc gyuto ( line/ small prep knife ), and 270mm suisin IH gyuto.
 
Welcome Panda!

My daily knives right now are MT 225 gyuto and 6" Sab nogent slicer.
 
240 Carbonext Gyuto, 270mm Hattori forum suji and my crappy Henckels for opening packaging, etc.
 
Given the level of dismissal Shuns have here, I'm trying an experiment, gathering up a representative sample, and trying them for a month (or until I determine that their reputation is warranted).

I'll post my impressions as I go.

Rick

file.jpg
 
The suji and parer look nice! What the hell is that in the middle? :D
 
At work it's a Masamoto KS 240 gyuto + a Victorinox serrated parer, and a Tadatsuna WS 210 suji during service.

Lefty, what's the knife above the Marr?
 
Wisco, those are all great choices! I'm waiting on my KS To come in, and I actually should have included my Victorinox serrated parer in my picture.

The knife above the Marr is one by Luke Snyder, out of Athens (I believe), Georgia. He's a maker whose work caught my eye and we've become pretty good friends while working on and discussing a bunc of different stuff. This one is a 225ish gyuto with a Carter type of profile and a grind that is right in the middle of thick and thin. It's a really nice cutter, and the extra weight isn't a bad thing either. If I had to compare it to another knife I've used, I'd put it in Kagayaki territory. It's not perfect, but I've held onto it for about two weeks longer than I had planned, so that says a fair bit. I think you're gonna see some really cool stuff coming from Luke, pretty soon!

Rick, I've told you this before...I just can't like santokus, apparently. Even Kramers! By the way, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the all Shun line-up!
 
I really like the look of that Kramer utility-esque knife, would use that for breaking down boxes at work for sure. Shuns sure do have some wonky blade shapes on them, across their lines there is some strange looking knives.
 
Right now I'm using a 300mm Hiromoto AS gyuto as my prep and line knife, though it'll be heading to Dave soon for his tune-up package. At home, I use my 8" Lington Blades chef's knife and an old and busted 6" Henckels utility.
 
I use my KS quite a bit, but its edge retention doesn't suit my new found sharpening laziness well....
 
Jmadams13 said:
Monday nights is knife sharpen and cleanup of my daily drivers, and while doing so, got me thinking, as most of us have larger collections, there must be a few goto's that get used almost daily, if not. So here are the ones I always take to work, and use daily. Sorry for the crappy iPhone pic.

OHHhK.jpg


Top to bottom:

Tojiro 210mm shirogami IDK gyuto with the K-U finish removed. Crappy handle, but love the steel on her. Takes a great edge and holds it. Used as a petty.

My trusty 1303 CCK. No need to elaborate, always with me, used for everything, favorite knife I own. Great line knife.

Paraplui A Le'Epreuve parer. Great and thin, nice geo, takes a scary sharp edge, just all around good parer to me. I know some don't like the ultra narrow profile, but it grew on me and was one of the best 20$ I've spent on a knife.

My still to be identified cleaver restoration. Shorter and narrower than my CCK, but a good one nonetheless. Took some cleaning and a lot of edge reworking to get it this far, and still not done, but holds and edge well, and takes a beating. Used more as a very tall nakari than anything else.

My vintage K-Sab restored and converted to slicer. 12" of slicing heaven, that's about all. Gets sharp, stays sharp, cuts like a big ass slicer should.

And my workhorse of the bunch, 12" American Grinding chefs I got from Lefty. Since the day it came, I have used it literally every day, at home and the bistro. Gets sharp as a mofo, and stays that way about all week. I really don't start noticing a difference till Friday dinner rush, but nothing a quick strop doesnt fix. Oh, BTW Tom, I got 99% of the bend out, and love it even more. May do a rehandle tho, but in a very vintage style.

What's not shown is my 1960something 10" dexter bread knife. Every good baker needs a good bread knife, and I have about 15, lol. But this dexter is my favorite at the moment, after a good touch up.


So....what do you all use on a daily basis?
Click to expand...

Good to see a bunch of funky well used carbons:knife:
 
I only have 5 knives in my stable but out of them all my 10" Nogent chef's knife gets the most use.
 
Mine don't exactly change much but these are the knives I'm currently using. Made this photo landscape so you can see 'em a little better

IMAG0519.jpg
 
knives424_cropped.JPG

San Hang Nga carbon cleaver. Cost me $2 at a thrift store, and yet lo and behold! It sharpened easier and keener than the German stuff I had before. I use it for heavier-duty chores. Thick, but with a good distal taper... very comfy in the pinch grip.

CCK 1301 cleaver. I like it. I've been looking for something with better steel and possibly larger, but with mixed results thus far. I got a Suien VC, but I'm still trying to decide if I like the extra rocker on the blade and the tongue-depressor-style handle.

Fujiwara FKM 150mm petty. Not the best steel, but it feels nice in the hand and is quite versatile.

Gonna get a Tojiro bread knife soon, which should see some good use...
 
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